by Marcus Brown
Chapter Fourteen
Kade Sincadu was already at the crime scene. He offered her a wink as she approached him.
“Morning,” Tabitha said, holding out her hand. “I’m Chief Inspector Tabitha Crockworthy and I’m in charge of this case.”
He gripped her hand. “Kade Sincadu --good to meet you at last, and I’m pleased to see you’re fully recovered, chief inspector.”
“Likewise,” she replied. “Now, what can you tell me?”
“Look around,” he replied. “I’m sure the scene speaks for itself.”
Tabitha scanned the expansive garden, horrified by the six wooden crosses implanted into the ground at random points.
Seeing the adults, their heads lolled to the side was horrifying enough, but seeing the four children, sickening injuries on display would be an image she’d never shake from her memory.
She looked at Jack and could see the horror etched across his kind face.
Grace was nowhere to be seen, but the retching noises coming from behind the rose bushes told Tabitha where she was.
“Jack, go and see if Grace is okay.”
In her many years on the job, she’d seen more than her fair share of horrific crimes committed, but seeing the children nailed to their respective crosses upset her greatly.
She didn’t want to look, but needed the anger to stay within her if she was going to catch the bastard and deal with her mother once and for all.
The Goddess was right. Abigail had to be stopped.
“Get those children down from there, now.” Tabitha ordered, feeling the bile rise at the back of her throat. “It’s not right.” She could feel the emotions inside her bubbling up to the surface and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it tightly against her eyes.
“Not yet,” Kade replied, overriding her order, obviously wanting to offer Tabitha some form of comfort. “We still have a lot of work to do before we can move them. I know it’s upsetting, but we need to do things by the book.”
Tabitha pushed the wet handkerchief back into her pocket. “How can we do anything by the book when kids are being murdered like this? More and more people will die.”
“I know,” he said, lowering his voice to barely a whisper. “But we have the upper hand here. We know who’s doing it, and with your magic at our disposal, we can track them down a hell of a lot easier than using conventional methods.”
“Trey,” she whispered. “We’re not as powerful as we were now the book is gone. Plus, my mother has somehow removed our immortality. The stakes are much higher than they were, and I’m not prepared to lose my sisters or you again for that matter.”
“We’ll find a way,” he said soothingly. “Now come on, you need to take a closer look at the bodies.”
“I don’t think I have the stomach for it.”
“You don’t want the team to think you’ve lost it. Now, come on. I know you’re angry, but hold onto it. It’ll help you when you need it most.”
Tabitha followed him across the garden. Her stomach was doing somersaults as she stepped closer to the children. Their angelic faces were frozen forever in time. She hoped they didn’t suffer, but looking closely at them, she didn’t know how they couldn’t have. Offering a silent prayer to the Goddess, she got down to what she was best at – her job. “He’s skinned them in places,” she said as her eyes lingered on the little blonde girl, the skin missing from her right leg.
“They all have the same injuries,” Kade replied. “But, the kids at least were dead before they were skinned.”
“Are you sure?” Tabitha asked, hopefully.
“Yes,” he replied. “Positive.”
Chapter Fifteen
“I’m home,” Tabitha called, as she stepped through the door.
“We’re cooking in the kitchen,” Talia replied. “Come on, it’s nearly ready.”
Tabitha stomped down the hallway. She didn’t have much of an appetite, if one at all, but as soon as she entered the kitchen, her appetite was the last thing she was interested in. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Cooking,” Tamara answered. She had a white apron tied around her waist.
“Cooking what?” Tabitha asked.
“We’re cooking up a spell that will help us locate the book,” Talia interjected, dressed to the nines. Even when chopping up all manner of ghastly ingredients like frog’s legs, cow’s innards and boiling the flesh and skin off a pig’s head, there wasn’t a hair out of place. And the dress. Tabitha didn’t want to ask, but she guessed it had been shipped in from some fashion show in Paris or Milan.
“Where did you find the spell?” Tabitha asked.
“Bridget Bishop stopped by a little earlier and gave us a few pointers,” Tamara added. “You know, I really like her and wish she wasn’t so, you know, dead. I could learn so much from her.”
“Well, can you learn a little faster?”
Talia and Tamara stared at her. “Fess up,” they said in unison.
“I haven’t had the best of days – six bodies turned up today.”
“Oh, no,” Tamara added. “Do you think it’s mother and Jeremiah?”
“They were crucified in their own back garden and skinned.” Tears stung her eyes. “Four beautiful little kids…” She choked on the words, unable to stop the tears from falling. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get their faces out of my mind. One of my female officers has taken leave after attending the crime scene.”
Tamara and Talia looked aghast and rushed over, pulling her into a hug.
“We’ll stop them, Tabi,” Talia said. “And make them all pay for what they’ve done.” She sounded resolute. “Won’t we, Tammy?”
“Yes,” Tamara replied, trying to hold her own tears back. She always had a hard time keeping her composure when her sisters were upset.
“There’s something else I need to tell you,” Tabitha said, pulling away from her sisters, knowing it was the right time.
“What?” Talia asked, sounding suspicious.
Tabitha took a seat at the breakfast bar then turned to face her sisters. “The Goddess has decreed mother has to die.”
“Well, that’s stating the obvious,” Talia added, matter of fact.
“But I have to be the one to do it,” Tabitha admitted. “I have to kill our mother.”
“You can’t, Tabi,” Tamara said, horrified. “Please tell me you refused to do it.”
Tabitha didn’t want to tell either of them she’d traded Trey’s life for her mothers, but the secret was eating away at her. “I couldn’t, Tammy. I’m so sorry. Had I refused, she would have taken Trey away again.”
She watched as her words hit home.
Tamara’s jaw dropped to her chest. “You bargained for his life with our mother’s? How could you?”
“I had no choice. Trey didn’t deserve to die.”
“And neither did our mother all of those years ago,” Tamara argued. “We brought her back without a soul, it’s our fault, not hers, and I won’t stand by and watch you murder her. Not so you can carry on fucking loverboy.”
“Tammy, enough,” Talia said. “That’s not fair.”
“And you think it’s fair on Mother, do you?” Tamara glowered at Talia.
“None of this is fair,” Tabitha added, “but Mother is murdering innocents, and she’ll continue to do it until we stop her.”
“I won’t be a part of it,” Tamara said, walking over to the pan bubbling over on the stove.
“You won’t need to be,” Tabitha added. “It’s something I have to do alone.”
“If you do this, Tabitha. I’ll never forgive you.” She turned to face Talia. “And if you don’t side with me on this, the same goes for you.” She blinked out of the kitchen.
Tabitha turned to look at Talia.
“What am I going to do, Tally? I’m damned if I do, and Trey is damned if I don’t.”
“You do what you think is right, Tabi. I want to believe the mother we used to know would
understand and forgive you, forgive us, but I’m conflicted right now and just need time to digest what you’ve just told us.” With that, she also blinked out of the kitchen, leaving Tabitha alone.
Chapter Sixteen
Abigail placed the darning needle on the table next to her stool. She stood up, admiring her handiwork. Jeremiah looked a thousand percent better than he had before.
The new skin stretched over his burns would soon settle and with a little touch of magic, he would look as good as new in no time.
“What do you think, Jeremiah?” she asked.
“I still prefer my old face. This one is far too pretty for my liking.”
“Tough,” Abigail replied. “You get what you’re given, so learn to live with it.”
“Then I have no other choice, do I?” he answered grumpily.
“Not really,” she replied. “But see it from a more positive angle. In a few days, you’ll be free to wander around as freely as you did before. My daughters are looking for the old you, so you’ll once again be able to hide in plain sight. It could be a huge advantage to us, especially while we search for the grimoires.”
“I didn’t think of it like that,” he said, a twisted smile spreading across his face.
“We all know how much pleasure you take from the suffering of others, but heed my warning – children are sacred.”
“Only to you,” Jeremiah argued.
“They are sacred, and you will never harm another, do you understand me?”
“I don’t defer to you, witch,” he replied.
“We’ll see about that,” she replied, then began to mutter an incantation.
He let out a cry of pain as the stiches binding the new skin to his burnt body began to snap, one by one. “Mistress,” he cried, in pain, trying to hold onto his new face. “No, you can’t do this.”
“Do you understand me, Jeremiah?” she asked again.”
“Yes, yes,” he shouted in desperation.
“Don’t disappoint me, Jeremiah, or you’ll once again be introduced to the flames, and this time, mark my words, there’ll be no escape.”
“Yes, Mistress,” he replied.
“Now, come here,” Abigail commanded. “I need to re-stitch the skin. It will hurt, but what’s a little pain between friends?” She smirked.
*
Later that night, Jeremiah had left the abandoned house and gone for a walk in the countryside.
“Numen, where are you?” Abigail asked.
Moments later, he appeared before her.
“What can I do for you, Mistress?”
“Are you any further along with a spell that will return me to my own time?”
“I’m afraid not, but I won’t give up.”
“That is good to hear my friend, but the sooner you find a way, the better. I fear we’re losing control of Jeremiah, and if he continues butchering people the way he is, he’ll lead my daughters straight to us.”
“And we’ll deal with them if that happens. Remember, they no longer have their gift of immortality.”
“I do not desire to witness the deaths of my children.”
“So, you do still care for them?” Numen added.
“Residual feelings remain within me, I admit, but that matters not. And we must keep Jeremiah away from them. He nearly killed Tabitha the last time they met.”
“It was you that took away their immortality,” Numen reminded her.
“I took it to slow them down, not to lead them like lambs to the slaughter to their graves.”
“The love you feel for them will be your undoing.”
“Silence,” she commanded. “Go and do as I ask.”
Chapter Seventeen
Tamara was eating a bowl of cereal when Tabitha walked into the kitchen.
She got up from the table, leaving her food.
“We need to talk,” Tabitha said.
“You said all I wanted to hear last night,” Tamara replied, storming past her.
Tabitha reached out and took hold of her arm. “Please, Tammy.”
Shrugging her off, she stomped out of the room and marched up the stairs.
Talia blinked in. “Was that Tamara I heard stomping up the stairs?”
“Yes,” Tabitha replied. “I need to try and make her understand.”
“You can’t make any of us understand why you’re doing what you’re going to do – hell, you probably don’t even understand yourself. You made that horrible decision blinded by grief.”
“So, you think I’m doing the wrong thing.”
“I think you’re doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, and if Tammy was honest, she thinks the same, but all she sees at the moment is you’re going to kill our mother.”
“Then give me another way. I don’t want to do it.”
“If you want Trey, there is no other way.”
“I need to speak with Bridget Bishop,” she said, blinking out of the kitchen and into the concealed basement corridor. Talia blinked behind her seconds later.
“What can that old crone do to help any of us?” Talia asked.
“She can speak to the Goddess on my behalf – there has to be another way.”
*
Bridget Bishop appeared within the circle of candles. “Why do you call me, Tabitha?”
“I need your help.”
“You’re going to ask me to help you find an alternative to killing Abigail, but I cannot, and will not go against the Goddess.”
“But you can speak to her, try and make her see sense.”
“You’ve heard the stories, both of you. Hecate cursed her own daughter. What makes you think she won’t do the same to you if you don’t do as she wishes?”
“Can’t you put a good word in?” Talia asked. “Anything to keep Trey here and get Tabitha off the hook.”
“Both of you ask too much,” Bridget replied, “But I’m fond of you all, and yes, even you, Talia Crockworthy, and will do my best, but if the answer is no, it would not be wise to go against her wishes.”
“Thank you,” Tabitha said, breathing a sigh of relief as Bridget vanished.
Chapter Eighteen
Adele Allen staggered out of the bar and decided to walk home. She’d called for a taxi, but there was a twenty-minute wait, so she figured, by the time it arrived, she’d nearly be home anyway.
As a history student at the local university, she took a keen interest in the city walls.
The Agricola Tower was the only surviving part of the medieval Chester Castle. The remainder of the castle was destroyed by fire in the late eighteenth century.
It was one of her favourite places to visit, and now, as the mood took her, she wanted to have a look at the tower under moonlight.
Wobbling along the street, she felt she’d never get there, but the beautiful tower came into view.
She stood looking up, admiring the building, wondering about the people who had stood before it hundreds of years earlier.
*
Adele never realised he was watching her, just hidden out of view.
The bitch is inebriated he thought to himself, and she would pay dearly for such unladylike behaviour.
As much as Miriam repulsed him, she behaved like a lady should. What he wouldn’t give right now to fuck her fat arse.
He stepped out of the shadows, plastering a smile on his face.
She appeared a little startled upon his approach, but he smiled, disarming her instantly. He was partially hidden by the moonlight.
“Hello,” she said, seemingly cautious.
“Good evening,” he replied, politely. “You’re out late. A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be walking around the city walls alone.”
“I wanted to see the tower,” she stated,
“It’s beautiful,” he replied. “Don’t you think?”
“I love it.”
“But it doesn’t compare to you.” If Jeremiah turned on the charm, it would be easier to manipulate her.
“Oh, hush,�
� she said, giggling like a schoolgirl. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Maybe,” he replied, sweetly, edging closer to her. “You like it though, don’t you?”
“Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t,” she said, wobbling again.
“Then allow me to help you decide.”
He stepped out of the shadows and swung his fist, catching her on the side of her head. The impact sent her crashing to the ground, and she lay there seemingly dazed, trying to push herself back to her feet.
He stepped closer and kicked her hard in the stomach.
She cried out in pain and curled into the fetal position, trying to protect herself, but he continued to kick her.
He knew she’d seen his face clearly. The stitches holding his new face had not yet been removed.
He kicked her again, this time square in the chest.
Adele tried to protect herself, but he continued to kick at her, before a well-aimed kick to her mouth.
Blood gushed and she spat shards of her teeth onto the ground. She put her hand to her mouth, her eyes wild with fear.
He knelt and stroked her hair, enjoying the power he felt as she recoiled in horror.
Chapter Nineteen
The phone vibrated, and Tabitha jumped out of her sleep.
She reached across and picked the phone up from the bedside table. “Hello,” she said, groggily. “Who is it?”
“Sorry to disturb you at this hour, boss, but it’s Grace here.”
Sitting up in bed, knowing it must be serious for one of her team to call her out of hours. “What is it, Grace?”
“We’ve got another body.”
“Shit,” Tabitha replied, her heart pounding. “Where?”
“Agricola Tower,” she replied. “Kade just arrived and told me to call you.”
“Okay, thanks, Grace,” she said, jumping out of bed. “Tell Kade I’ll be there in thirty minutes, oh, and Grace, before you go.”
“Yes, boss?”
“My name is Tabitha. Use it.”
